About Raymond Kaiser, Ph.D.

Dr. Raymond Kaiser is the Global Vice President, Early Phase Biopharmaceutical Solutions (BioA, CMC) at Covance. Dr. Kaiser is an expert in the research, development, QA/QA and technical support of biologic, biosimilar and vaccine products. He has spent over 20 years in the biopharmaceutical industry and published over 50 papers and patents on various aspects of the development, characterization and manufacture of biologics and vaccines. Prior to joining Covance, Dr. Kaiser was Executive Director in the Bioprocess R&D Department at Merck Research Laboratories.

When a patient reads the label on their medicine bottle, he or she naturally relies on the medicine to contain the correct drug, be safe, work as intended and list the correct dosage. The pharmaceutical companies that produce these medicines similarly must rely on their internal manufacturing processes and quality control testing to generate the medicine responsible for this patient trust.

For the development of biologic medicines, the process of generating a quality product is less straightforward than that of a small-molecule medicine, like pain relievers such as aspirin. Selecting the right partner, such as Covance and its ‘Central GMP Testing Laboratory’ model, can smooth the path to validation and consistent manufacturing quality for your biologic. Continue reading →

Biosimilars, which are new versions of innovator biopharmaceutical products that are marketed after expiration of patents, have emerged as one of the fastest growing development opportunities in the biopharmaceutical sector. In the U.S. alone, industry analysts estimate that biologics worth $80 billion are slated to go off patent by 2015.

Regulatory agencies evaluate biosimilars based on their level of similarity to, rather than the exact replication of, the innovator drug. In the U.S., recent guidance by the FDA says it will “consider the totality of the evidence” when assessing follow-on products. This approach requires sponsors to demonstrate robust chemical comparability to the innovator compound. Continue reading →